An old spice packs a punch

Ever since the recently rebranded Old Spice television ads came on earlier this year, I've heard a lot of men trying to impersonate the Old Spice guy. The truth is, they can't. They're not him, they don't smell like him...yet.


It's a great, humorous campaign that both men and women can relate to; the men, because they secretly guiltily admire the Old Spice guy, and the women, because they secretly, guiltily want to be with the Old Spice guy, or find someone like him...

For those of you who've been living under a rock for the past 12 months:

The Old Spice Ad

What's really cool about this campaign is that the Old Spice guy is just so likeable. There's nothing particularly extreme about him (i.e. he's not a meerkat, an annoying opera singer, or Iggy Pop), but his likeability gives him versatility. In fact, his relative closeness to average humanity means he's really accessible too. Not only has the tremendously successful TV ad (and it's viral effect) ramped up sales of Old Spice 107% (between the months of June and July 2010), but the Old Spice guy has been extending the effects of the TV campaign by appearing on Old Spice's Twitter, answering fan's questions, some of them through video.

Usually, when an ad is parodied a lot, it means one of two things. It's either a tremendously innovative ad that has sparked a creative flare within someone, or it's a pile of rubbish, that deserves to be ridiculed. I think everyone will agree with me when I say that thankfully, it's the former in Old Spice's case.

Another strong brand ambassador, the Page 3 girl(s) has parodied the Old Spice ad to celebrate 40 years of the Page 3 feature being in The Sun. The video features model, "Rosie" performing a tweaked rendition of the Old Spice script.

It's certainly an eye opener.

The bottom line is, it's a surprisingly good advert from a company who everyone thought had disappeared a long time ago. Perhaps it was the element of surprise that really put the magic into this campaign, either way, I know what I want in my stocking for Christmas.